A PROPOSAL to turn a workshop into a gym has been thrown out by the city council.

An application to change the unit in Peterley Road in Cowley was deemed to be 'unsustainable' by the authority yesterday.

Unique Bodies Gym is currently based at Oxford City Rowing Club in Meadow Lane but must move because the club wants to reclaim space there. Its owners hoped it would have operated from 6am until 11pm daily.

But planning officers said the plan would have resulted in the 'loss of a key protected employment site' and made current parking problems worse.